Augustine's Scientific Method

As we read Augustine’s Confessions, especially the last 3 chapters, we are astounded by the way in which Augustine blends prayer and prose, supplication and explication. It is a unique book, belonging to no recognizable genre. Most, as I have in this paper, carefully extract the science from the supplication, and distort his work. But Augustine did not. He viewed subjective prayer to be an integral part of his search for objective fact.
In Scripture, Jesus tells us, “I am the Truth”, and lays claim to the whole realm of cosmology, making himself the one sure epistemic method. He also tells us that should we desire to follow him, we must await the Holy Spirit, who will “guide you into all truth”.
Thus Augustine was able to be supremely, miraculously prescient because he sought the Holy Spirit in his scientific endeavors. He pleaded for wisdom, he admitted his ignorance, he praised God for revealing his Truth. This is the true sense of the word Confession, and the title of his book. For all truth is personal, all knowledge is subjective. This is not relativism, for the object of our knowledge is permanent. The Truth is a Person.

In Scripture, Jesus tells us, “I am the Truth”, and lays claim to the whole realm of cosmology, making himself the one sure epistemic method. He also tells us that should we desire to follow him, we must await the Holy Spirit, who will “guide you into all truth”.